<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The 51 executives of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) abroad met this week in Madrid to discuss, among other topics, the new development financing architecture promoted at the recent UN Conference on Development in Seville.</strong></h4> The management team of the Spanish Cooperation Offices Abroad met at AECID headquarters in Madrid for their annual meeting, which began last Monday, coinciding with the commemoration of International Cooperation Day, and concluded on Friday after "intensive working sessions with a common goal: to maximize the Agency's effectiveness and operations through greater strategic planning, internal coordination, and knowledge management," according to a press release from AECID. During the meeting, the 51 AECID professionals leading Cultural Centers, Training Centers, and Spanish Cooperation Offices in Africa, the Americas, and Asia addressed the new development financing architecture promoted at the UN Conference on Development, recently held in Seville, the creation of development partnerships, multilateral and European cooperation, humanitarian action, cultural management, and the training of public administration personnel in Latin America and the Caribbean, among other topics. In addition to the sharing sessions, where these executives were able to learn about progress and hear about the challenges and contexts facing the organization, bilateral meetings were also held, both individually and by geographic and cultural departments, which will help establish better guidelines for cooperation efforts. "These meetings promote ongoing training and internal coordination, as each external center experiences its own unique challenges, becoming a space that is not only useful but necessary," AECID emphasized. "These 51 people are part of the 631 people working for the Agency Abroad, which has a total of 1,210 professionals, both Spanish and local," it concluded.
